california's barbara boxer: >> we need to get our priorities straight around here. and we can't walk away and invite another... another tragedy. and as much as people like to say, "well, it's not the money," it's the money. you can't... you can't protect a facility without the funding." >> reporter: but republicans asked why, in the case of benghazi, the state department did not shift funds or ask for emergency money. bob corker of tennessee minced no words in his assessment. > what i s in e rert ia department that has sclerosis. that doesn't think outside the box. that is not using the resources that it has in any kind of creative ways. is not prioritizing. i cannot imagine sending folks out to benghazi after what we saw from the security cameras and the drones. >> reporter: deputy secretary burns said the answer, in part, is that despite growing lawlessness in benghazi, in his words, "we made the mistaken assumption that we wouldn't become a major target." >> the truth is, across eastern there had been a tendency-- not just in the case of eastern libya, but i thin